Our short visit to Ketchikan was one of my favorite excursions during our recent cruise through Alaska's Inner Passage. Many of our other excursions were essentially limited to visiting the tourist attractions, but in Ketchikan we managed to see areas of the city that were a more honest view of life in Alaska. (This was also the only location where we experienced the wet and misty weather more typical of Alaska. We had unnaturally sunny weather in all of the other locations we visited, with many of the locals commenting on how lucky we were to see the sun.)
Ketchikan, like many other costal Alaskan cities, started as a fishing community, then transitioned to mining and lumber, before finally evolving into a tourist center, with it's fishing and native heritage being the primary tourist draws. Most of the city is perched on the steep side of the mountain, with many of the waterside structures built up on pilings.
Warfs
As with most tourist destinations, the city hangs in an uneasy balance between the tourist industry and the "real people." Upon disembarking, cruise ship passengers are met by sales pitches from the local tour businesses, including the unique amphibious vehicle used for the "Duck Tours" in Ketchikan.
Duck Tours
The area immediately adjacent to the cruise ship docks is representative of the uneasy balance between the local community and the companies that have set up shop here to exploit the tourists. Jewelry stores, saloons and stores selling cheap curios ("native" trinkets made in China) dominate the area, and funnel much of the money that comes ashore right back to the cruise companies and affiliated offshore companies. Our nephew (part of our 16-member family entourage on the cruise) characterized Skagway as "saloon, jewelry store, saloon, jewelry store, saloon, jewelry store..." and this characterization held true in Ketchikan as well.
Where the Money Goes
Many of the jewelry stores are owned by the cruise companies, or pay a cut of their profits to the cruise companies in order to advertise in their fliers. One chain (or loose affiliation?) of jewelry stores has come up with a very effective method of luring potential customers by giving away free "gifts" (in this case imitation gold coins, which children on the cruise ship are encouraged to collect). By the time we reached Ketchikan, Evan had found out about the gold coins from some of the other children on the ship, and Rebecca had agreed to swing by the stores and help him collect the coins. The "land shark" in the following image wouldn't give Rebecca (or Evan) the coin until Rebecca had patiently endured the hard sell for the jewelry. The saleswomen in this store were actually quite good, and tag-teamed Rebecca with admirable tactics. Little did they know how difficult it is to separate
this woman from her money. The instinct to hold on tight to their hard earned money courses through many generations of Rebecca's ancestors. I actually found it quite amusing, and marveled at some of the false reasoning the saleswomen used to justify the "bargains" Rebecca could get on jewelry. After extracting the information that Rebecca preferred emeralds, this saleswoman offered her a $17,000 emerald for $5,000, saying they could offer such a great bargain because Alaska was exempt from the federal luxury tax (which isn't true, although jewelry might potentially be cheaper because Alaska doesn't have a state sales tax). Of course her statement that the pyrite that festooned the walls in the shop was "real gold" that her co-worker's husband had found didn't go very far towards establishing her credibility. I actually found the whole episode quite amusing.
Land Shark
The real pleasure of visiting Ketchikan started when we got away from the "front streets" and wandered up into the area where the locals live. The city had quite a few small parks with amazing flower displays. Rhododendrons thrive in this climate and were the stars of the show.
Whale Park
Rhododendrons
The area along Creek Street is the historic "old town." In past centuries this area hosted the bordellos and saloons that relieved the miners, lumberjacks and fishermen of their hard-earned money, and over time it has evolved into the more subtle saloons, restaurants and curio shops that transfer some of the wealth from the visiting cruise ships into the local economy. Still, it's a picturesque (and historic) area that I enjoyed visiting and photographing.
Creek Street
My favorite memories are from our visit further up into the town. We enjoyed a very informative visit to a tribal salmon hatchery, which helped me understand the symbiotic relationship between the native people and the salmon, and how their lives are intimately linked to the life cycles of the salmon. The image of the salmon ladder (built to help the salmon get past the steep rapids, probably caused by alterations to the stream bed when the bridge was built) and the echoing steps up to the house on the hillside represent this harmonious relationship between the natives and their environment. This is the "real" Ketchikan that I want to remember, and the "sense of place" that I want to take away from this experience.
Salmon Ladder
